In the upholstery trade, buttons are fastened to an upholstered piece by needle and thread, prong buttons, nail and washer, strap or loop. The methodology of some of the aforementioned methods necessitates laborious and methodical hand labor, and the proposed invention is more flexible, in that it can be used synonymously for all of the heretofore existing aforementioned modes of tying and anchoring upholstery buttons. The only exception would be when there is a tufting button located on both sides of the upholstered article such that they are positioned in a back-to-back manner and this exception would still be carried out by hand-using one of the old methods.
The invention relates to two-piece upholstery ties, and more particularly, to such ties having release means for releasing the tie after it has been tightened. One-piece plastic cable ties for bundling a plurality of elongate objects such as wires have come into common use in the last two decades. Such ties typically include a locking head having a toothed locking pawl pivotally mounted and extending into a strapreceiving aperature, and a strap having a series of transverse teeth on one surface thereof for engagement with the pawl. These prior art ties are available in both releasable and non-releasable versions, with the former generally having a short lever or tab extending from the pawl beyond the strap exit face of the locking head. In releasing the tie, the strap must be pulled at least a short distance through the locking head in the strap tightening direction to allow the pawl to pivot toward the strap exit face and out of engagement with the strap. Of course, the force required to release the strap is a function of the force previously used in applying the tie.
A projecting release strap is impractical in working in the upholstery business where such projecting release strap would be permanently located interally within the tufting and padding of the upholstered article where the pressure of the body sitting upon it or leaning against it might eventually release it, thereby loosening the button and upholstery tie itself.
In the instant invention, the means of release is integrated into the locking device itself with a small aperture located in the side of the device which can be accessed only by the upholsterer by inserting a pin or other sharp object to trip the release lever should the craftsman himself have a necessity to release or readjust the locking pawl after which it becomes permanently locked and secured as required (see FIG. 7-i).